A Brief Overview of some Deviant Sects

1. They attribute themselves to something other than Islaam and the Sunnah, due to what they have introduced from innovations in speech, action and belief.

2. They cling fanatically to their opinions and do not turn to the truth, even if it is clearly conveyed to them.

3. They hate the scholars of Islaam and the Religion.

From their groups are:

1. Ar-Raafidah – They are the ones who go to extremes with regard to the Members of the Household (Aali Bait). They declare the companions that opposed them as being disbelievers or they accuse them of evil (fisq). They are divided into many sects, among which are the extremists, who claim that ‘Alee is god, and among which are other than them. Their innovation first appeared during the Khilaafah of ‘Alee bin Abee Taalib when ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’ said to him: “You are God.” Due to this, ‘Alee commanded that they be set on fire. However, their leader, ‘Abdullaah bin Saba’, escaped to another city.

They hold various views concerning the Attributes of Allaah, so among them are those who performtashbeeh, those who perform ta’teel and those who are in conformity (with the correct view of the attributes). They are called the Raafidah because they rejected (rafd) Zayd bin ‘Alee Ibnul-Husayn bin ‘Alee bin Abee Taalib, when they asked him about Abu Bakr and ‘Umar and so he said “rahimahullaah” for both of them.

So they rejected him and distanced themselves from him. And they named themselves Shee’ah because of their claim and notion that they are taking sides (tashayu’) with the Aali Bait and that they support them and that they are reclaiming their right to Imaamship.

2. Al-Jahmiyyah – They attribute themselves to Al-Jahm bin Safwaan who was killed by Saalim or Salim bin Ahwaz in the year 121H. Their views concerning the Attributes of Allaah are composed ofta’teel (denial) and nafee (negation). Concerning Al-Qadar, they hold the opinion that mankind is coerced to do deeds (al-jabr).

Their view concerning Eemaan is that of Irjaa, which means that they believe Eemaan is merely the confirmation of the heart, and that statements and actions are not part of Eemaan. So according to them, someone who commits a major sin is a believer with complete Eemaan (i.e. Eemaan does not increase or decrease). So they are the Mu’atazilah, Jabariyyah and Murji’ah all in one and they are divided into many sects.

3. Al-Khawaarij – They are the ones who set out to kill ‘Alee bin Abee Taalib (radyAllaahu ‘anhu) due to his rulership. Their methodology consists of freeing themselves from ‘Uthmaan (radyAllaahu ‘anhu) and ‘Alee (radyAllaahu ‘anhu), setting out against the Imaam if he opposes the Sunnah and declaring disbelief upon the one who commits a major sin. They believe that this type of person will remain in the Hellfire forever. They are divided into numerous groups.

4. Al-Qadariyyah – Their methodology consists of negating Al-Qadar from the actions of the servant and that his desire and ability are independent from the Desire and Ability of Allaah. The first to manifest this view openly was Mu’bad Al-Juhnee, in the last part of the era of the Sahaabah. He learned it from a Majoosee man from Al-Basrah.

They are divided into two groups, one that is extreme and one that is not extreme. The extremist group rejects the attributes of knowledge, desire, ability and creating from Allaah in favor of the actions of the servant. This type of people has now become extinct or close to it. Those that are not extreme believe that Allaah is knowledgeable of the actions of the servant. However, they reject its occurring by His desire, ability and creating. This is what their belief is founded upon.

5. Al-Murji’ah – They believe that actions are deferred from Eemaan (Al-Irjaa). Thus actions, according to them, are not part of it. Eemaan is simply the complying of the heart. Thus the sinner, according to them, is a believer with complete Eemaan, even if he does what he does from the disobedient acts or he abandons what he abandons from the obedient acts. And if we ruled that someone that abandoned one of the commandments of the Religion is a disbeliever, then that would be due to the absence of the complying in his heart not due to his abandonment of that deed. These are the views of the Jahmiyyah. And it, along in comparison with the views of the Khawaarij, are the two opposite extremities.

6. Al-Mu’atazilah – They are the followers of Waasil bin Ataa’, who withdrew (‘Itizaal) from the gathering of Al-Hasan Al-Basree. He determined that the sinner is in a level between two levels. Thus, he is neither a believer nor a disbeliever, yet he will reside eternally in the Hellfire. ‘Amr bin ‘Ubaid followed him in that and their views concerning the Attributes of Allaah are based on ta’teel, like the Jahmiyyah, and concerning Al-Qadar, like that of the Qadariyyah.

They reject the relation of the Qadaa and the Qadar of Allaah to the actions of the servant. In regards to the one who commits a major sin, they hold that he will remain in the Hellfire forever and that he is extracted from the fold of Eemaan into a level between the two levels of belief and disbelief. Thus they oppose the views of the Jahmiyyah in regards to these two principles.

7. Al-Karaamiyyah – They are the followers of Muhammad bin Karaam, who died in 225H. They incline towards tashbeeh and hold the belief of Irjaa. They are further divided into numerous groups.

8. As-Saalimah – They are the followers of a man who was called Ibn Saalim. Their views consist of tashbeeh.

These are the groups mentioned by the author. He then said “And those similar to them”, such as the Ash’ariyyah. They are the followers of Abul-Hasan ‘Alee bin Ismaa’eel Al-Ash’aree. At first, he inclined towards the views of the Mu’tazilah sect, until he reached forty years of age. Then he openly announced his repentance from that to the public and exposed the falsehood of the Mu’tazilah. So he took hold of the methodology of the Ahl-us-Sunnah, may Allaah have mercy on him.

As for those who attribute themselves to him, they remained upon a specific methodology, which is known as the Ash’ariyyah sect. They do not confirm any of Allaah’s attributes, except seven, which they believe are proven by intellect. And they distort the meaning of the rest of them. The seven (they affirm) are the ones mentioned in this verse:

“He is Living, Knowing, Able and has Speech
Desire, and likewise Hearing and Seeing”

They also commit other innovations with regard to the meaning of Speech, Al-Qadar and other than that.

What or who is Salaf?

The manhaj (methodology) of the Salaf is to adhere to the Qur'aan and the authentic Sunnah as understood by the Salaf as-Saalih.

The word Salaf is a shortened version of the word 'Salaf as-Saalih', which means the 'Righteous Predecessors'.

It refers specifically to the first three generations of Islaam in which the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) described as being the best generations of Muslims. The first, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and his Sahaabah (companions). The second, the Taabi'een (the followers of the companions). The third, the Tabaa'at-Taabi'een (the followers of the followers of the companions).

Generally, this term refers to all those pious predecessors who followed the way of the Salaf and who have preceded us in time. This is the true manhaj of Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamaa'ah.

>>How they prayed

From the lives of our pious predecessors:

UMAR (radiallaahu anhu) became unconscious after he was stabbed, and it was said: “Nothing would wake him up except the call to prayer, if he is still alive.”They said to him, “The prayer has finished, O Leader of the Believers!”He woke up and said,“The prayer, by Allah! Verily, there is no share in Islam for whoever abandons the prayer.”He performed the prayer while his wound was bleeding. (Sifat As-Safwah 2/131, As-Siyar 5/220)

Words of Wisdom

“If you do not find any sweetness and relaxation in your heart from a [good] deed, then you should suspect your heart. Verily, Allâh is grateful. That is, He must reward the doer of the deed for his deed in this world by a sweetness he finds in his heart, a stronger feeling of relaxation and a joy in his eyes. If the person does not find these things, it means that something has entered upon his deed [and made it not correct and purely for Allâh’s sake].” [Ibn Qayyim, Madârij, Vol. 2, P. 68]

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References

**10 Points on the Salafee Manhaj**

1. We worship Allaah by way of Tawheed. So we do not supplicate to anyone besides Allaah nor do we seek refuge in anyone besides Him in matters of bringing about good or repelling some harm. We perform worship by having hatred and enmity for the polytheists. However, we are obligated to call them to Tawheed first and clarify to them that there is no Islaam without Tawheed and that whoever calls unto other than Allaah has committed disbelief. So whoever persists after that, then at that point we are obligated to distance ourselves from him and hate him for the sake of Allaah.

2. The Creed of the Salaf is established upon the principle that "Allaah is described with what He has described himself with in His Book and upon the tongue of His Messenger (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam), without resorting to tahreef, tamtheel, tashbeeh, ta’teel or ta’weel." [1]

3. We affirm for Allaah the best of Names, which He has affirmed for Himself and which He has praised Himself with, whether they are mentioned in the Qur’aan or the Sunnah.

4. We believe that there is no path towards achieving Allaah’s contentment, or a way towards Paradise, except through the Way of Allaah’s Messenger (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam). And whoever seeks a way towards gaining Allaah’s contentment through other than the Way of Allaah’s Messenger,then he has gone astray and been blinded from the truth. And he has lost in this world and the next.

5. We believe that the Legislation of Allaah is what has been brought down through the two revelations: The Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (sallAllaahu 'alayhi wa sallam). This is what our Lord has indicated in his saying: "Then we placed you on a Sharee'ah (Legislated System) based on Our Command, so follow it, and do not follow the desires of those who have no knowledge." [Surah Al-Jaathiyah: 18]

6. We believe that the Qur’aan is the Speech of Allaah, which was revealed and not created, and that the Sunnah is what explains and clarifies it. The Qur’aan is interpreted by the Sunnah and by the interpretations of the Sahaabah (Companions) and those who followed them in goodness. So the interpretation of the Qur’aan is by way of the narration, meaning by way of the Sahaabah, the Taabi’een and the Ahaadeeth concerning it. And the books that contain these interpretations are the ones we are obligated to acquire and read, such as the Tafseer of Ibn Jareer, the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer, the Tafseer of Al-Baghawee, the Tafseer "Ad-Durr Al-Manthoor" of As-Suyootee and so on.

7. We are obligated to take the Sunnah according to the way of the Muhadditheen - in terms of their authenticity or weakness. So we take what is found to be authentic and leave off what is weak.

8. We worship Allaah by obeying the rulers, as long as they are Muslims who seek judgement through Allaah’s Legislation and who establish the prescribed punishments, and as long as they establish the prayer. Obeying them is an obligation even if they commit oppression. And whoever says something contrary to this and makes it permissible to revolt against the Muslim leader, even if he may be oppressive, then he is an innovator and a deviant. And it is obligatory on the Muslim scholars to refute this statement of his and to expose his deviance.

9. We hold that it is not permissible to spread the faults of the leaders, because doing this influences and brings about trials and afflictions (fitan), and causes them to spread.

10. We are obligated to worship Allaah through the Sunnah, by following it and by loathing innovations and the innovators. This is based on the Prophet’s saying: "Whoever does a deed, which is not in accordance to our affair (i.e. the Sunnah) is rejected." And in another narration: "Whoever introduces into our affair (Sunnah) that which isn’t part of it is rejected."

***This is a summary and some brief words on the Creed of the Salaf, which we are obligated to accept and follow if we truly want salvation and the truth. And we must renounce those opinions of men, which cannot be traced back to any source of evidence, since men are known by way of the truth and the truth is not known by way of men. Lastly, we must beg and implore Allaah to show us the truth as true and enable us to follow it, and to show us the falsehood as false and enable us to avoid it. Indeed Allaah is Responsible for that and Able to make it happen. And may the peace and blessings of Allaah be on Muhammad - the best, most dutiful, most pious and purest of creation - and on his family and his Companions.

[1] Translator’s Note: These are forbidden acts committed against Allaah’s Names and Attributes. Tahreef means to change or distort the wording of Allaah’s name or attribute. Tamtheel and tashbeeh means to give a like resemblance to a name or an attribute. Ta’teel means total denial of a name or an attribute. Ta’weel means to misinterpret a name or an attribute, thus changing it’s meaning.